Calk for athletic shoes and the like



Oct. 14, 1941. F. c. PHILLIPS f l 2,258,805

CALK FOR ATHLETIC SHOES AND THE LIKE Filed May 27, 1940 .FiQL 2 7 '3 Patented Oct. 14, 1941 UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE GALK Foa A'rnLE'rresnous AND THE LIKE Fred C.Pl1illips, Stoughton, Mass. Appneanonnay 27, 1940, serial No. 337,457

6 claims. (ol. 36-59) This invention relates to improvements in calks for athletic shoes and the like such as are used by golfers, football players, base ball players, track athletes, etc., and which are designed to prevent slipping of the foot upon the ground.

The term calk is used herein in a generic sense as comprising any instrumentality adapted to be worn upon the sole of a shoe or boot and so to engage the ground as to prevent slipping.

The present invention comp-rises improvements.y in calk constructions of the type disclosed in the patent to Daniel J. Golden No. 1,827,514, granted October 13, 1931, which comprises an anchoring member having a base adapted to engage the inner surface of the shoe sole and an integral internally threaded sleeve which is embedded in and extends partly through the sole of the shoe and is adapted to receive the screw threaded shank of a calk having a base to engage the under surface of the sole and a spike integral with the base or a cleat formed integral with or secured to a downwardly extending shank portion. In such constructions the spike or shank of the cleat is in axial alinement with the screw threaded portion which engages the One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a calk construction in which the ground-engaging member is provided with a thin penetrating edge and a relatively broad, preferably at, surface or angularly disposed surfaces to resist lateral slippage of the shoe and which therefore will provide a construction which will more readily penetrate the ground and more effectively prevent slippage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a calk construction of the character described in which the ground-engaging member may be selectively rotarily positioned relatively to the fastening means in such a manner as to be most effective, as for example in running shoes the ground-engaging members may be positioned at substantially right angles to the axis of the shoe and in other shoes, such as golf, baseball, shoes, may be positioned at such angle to the axis of the shoe as to provide the greatest resistance to lateral slippage of the shoe or may be located in any other position which will more effectively resist slippage in accordance with the requirement of the particular type of shoe.

Another object. of the invention is to provide a calk construction for athletic shoes in which the ground-engaging member of the calk may be placed closer to the edge of the sole than in previous constructions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a calk of the character described having a base provided with a peripheral rim located at a distance from the axisof the anchoring member which will minimize the leverage imposed upon the anchoring shank of the calk by the force supplied to the ground-engaging member and will therefore lessen the tendency of the .calk to tilt the base of the anchoring member which is vsithin the shoe or to loosen the calk from the s oe.

A further object of the invention is to provide a calk for athletic shoes which can be readily detached and replaced or rotarly adjusted so that the ground-engaging member may be placed in the desired relative position to the longitudinal axis of the shoe.

A further object of the invention is to'provide a calk member, preferably of sheet metal, which can be inexpensively formed by stamping or forging and which will embody the advantageous features of construction above described.

These and other objects and features. of the invention will more fully appear fromrthe following description and the accompanying drawing and will beparticularly pointed out in the claims.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the toe portion of the tread of a shoe sole having secured to it a plurality of calks embodying the invention With the ground-engaging surface of the calk positioned to resist slippage in substantial parallelism with the axis of the sole as required by running shoes and the like;

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the groundengaging members of the calk positioned to prevent lateral and longitudinal resistance to slippage as required by golf shoes, etc.;

Fig. 3 is a detail enlarged vertical section of the calk and anchoring member applied to a section of a sole;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the modified form of the invention in which the calk is provided with a plurality of diametrically positioned ground-engagng members;

Fig. 5 is a similar Viewv showing a modified form of calk member in which the ground-engagrlg member is offset from the periphery ofthe sole and is of a form paltcularly desirable in baseball shoes.;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail side elevation of a calk embodying the invention;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged underneath plan view of the anchoring member;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan view of the calk member shown in Fig. 3 particularly illustrating the peripheral rim which engages the shoe sole and the sole-penetrating prongs projecting upwardly therefrom; and,

Fig. 9 is an underneath plan View of the calk construction illustrated in Fig. 5.

In the `preferred constructions illustrated herein the calk is mounted upon the tread surface of a shoe sole I. The anchoring member for the calk comprises a preferably circular metal base 2 having an integral sleeve portion 3 extending downwardly therefrom and adapted to be embedded in the sole in such manner as to be flush therewith, the sleeve being provided with internal screw threads 4 adapted to be engaged by a suitable screw 5 having a beveled head 6. The anchoring member is provided with a plurality of prongs 'I which are cut from the base member and bent downwardly and which are adapted to be embedded in the shoe sole to prevent rotation of the anchoring member therein.

The calk member comprises a stiff sheet metal plate having a preferably circular base or body 8 of cup-shaped form having a peripheral rim 9 adapted to engage and indent into the tread surface of the sole with a plurality of prongs II) bent at right angles to the rim 9 to penetrate into and be embedded in the sole. The central portion of the calk member is provided with an aperture having an inwardly inclined or tapering wall I I complementary to the taper of the beveled head 6 of the screw, so that the outer surface of the screw head will be flush with the central portion of the calk member. K

A preferred form of ground-engaging portion or portions of the calk as illustrated in Figs. 3, 4, and 8, comprises an extension from the periphery of the calk which is bent or forged to extend at substantially right angles to the plane of the rim 9 to present a V-shaped ground-gripping member I2 having a thin ground-penetrating edge I3 and relatively broad angularly disposed ground-engaging surfaces I4 and I5. In the construction illustrated and described the anchoring members for the several calks are embedded in the sole and the calk members secured thereto by the screw 5 in such manner that the prongs I of the anchoring member will penetrate the tread surface of the sole and the rim 9 will rest upon and preferably indent the tread surface of the sole when the screw 5 is set up tightly. By reason of this construction lateral force applied to the ground-engaging members I4 and I5 will exert a leverage upon the rim portion which will be transmitted to the screw in approximately axial alinement with the screw, thereby avoiding the tilting force appli-ed to the shank of the calk where the spike is of the same or slightly larger diameter than the shank which is anchored in the sole.

By reason of the angularly disposed vposition of the ground-engaging surfaces I4 and I5 pressure exerted by these surfaces upon the ground tends to compact the ground between such surfaces and afford a still further resistance against slippage.

The calk may be provided with a single groundgripping member as illustrated in Fig. 3 or a plurality of suitably disposed ground-gripping members which as illustrated in Fig. 4 desirably are positioned diametrically opposite to each other so that the earth embraced by them may be readily discharged without causing such accumulation as would interfere with the effective slip-resisting character of the calk.

Of course the calk may be provided with any number of such groundengaging members as may be desired for the particular purpose for which the shoe is to be employed.

A modified form of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 5 which is particularly adapted for baseball shoes, football shoes, etc. in which it is undesirable to have a pointed ground-penetrating member which might be liable to injure other players. In the construction disclosed in Fig. 5 the calk member desirably is of cup-shaped circular form having the characteristics above described but is provided with a peripheral extension l' from which a fiat ground-penetrating member I'I is so bent or forged as to stand at substantially right angles to the base of the calk and thereby to present a thin ground-penetrating edge and a broad surface IB to resist slippage.

Other forms of calks may of course be employed such, for example, as to present curved surfaces or any desirable form of regular or irregular slippage-resisting surfaces.

It will therefore be understood that the particular embodiments of the invention shown and described herein are of an illustrative character and that various changes in form, construction and arrangement of parts may be made. It will also be obvious that the novel form of calk member may be forged to embody the invention but with an integral screw threaded stem adapted to engage the screw threaded socket of the anchoring member within the spirit and scope of the following claims. In such a construction the solepenetrating prongs of the calk members will, of course, be omitted.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. A calk for athletic shoes and the like comprising a substantially circular, concave, sheet metal plate having a peripheral rim portion to engage firmly the under face of the sole with integral inwardly extending prongs adapted to be embedded in the sole and having an integral V- shaped ground-engaging member bent substantially perpendicularly outwardly from said plate at or beyond the periphery thereof and presenting a thin ground-penetrating edge and angularly disposed relatively broad ground-engaging surfaces, and means for fastening the central portion of said plate to the sole.

2. A calk for athletic shoes and the like comprising a circular cupped sheet metal base plate provided with a plurality of inwardly projecting prongs to embed in the sole of the shoe and a peripheral rim to engage the sole and having an integral ground-engaging member bent substantially perpendicularly outwardly from said plate at or beyond the periphery thereof presenting a narrow ground-penetrating edge and a relatively broad ground-engaging surface, said plate having a central circular aperture provided with an inwardly inclined wall complementary to the beveled under face of the head of the clamping screw, a clamping screw and complementary screw threaded means adapted to be embedded in the sole whereby said calk may be firmly anchored to the sole.

3. A ground-gripping calk construction for soles of athletic shoes and the like having embedded therein a circular metallic anchoring member having prongs adapted to be embedded in the inner side of the sole and an internal socket member extending partially through the sole, a clamping screw adapted to be mounted in said socket, a cup-shaped metallic calk member having a base of larger diameter than that of said anchoring member with a central aperture provided with an inwardly converging wall complementary to the head of the clamping screw and detachably mounted on said screw, said base having a narrow peripheral ring to engage the outer face of the sole at a substantially radial distance from said screw and provided with a plurality of peripheral inwardly extending prongs adapted to be embedded in the sole beyond the periphery of said anchoring member, and a ground-engaging member integral with and extending substantially perpendicularly outwardly from said base at or beyond the periphery thereof presenting a narrow ground-penetrating edge and a relatively broad ground-engaging surface.

4. A ground-gripping calk construction for soles of athletic shoes and the like having embedded therein a metallic anchoring member having a base provided with an integral internally threaded socket member adapted to extend partially through the shoe sole comprising a rigid sheet metal calk having a body provided with a, central aperture and at a substantial distance therefrom with means adapted to be embedded in the outer face of the shoe sole and at or beyond the periphery of said body with an integral ground-engaging member extending substantially perpendicularly outwardly from said body and a screw extending through the central aperture in said body adapted to engage the socket in said anchoring member, whereby the ground-engaging member of said calk may be positioned in any desired angular relation to the longitudinal axis of the shoe and when said screw is set up the calk will be xedly secured to the sole and the ground-engaging members maintained in said desired position.

5. A ground-gripping calk construction for soles of athletic shoes and the like having embedded therein a metallic anchoring member having a base provided with an integral internally threaded socket member adapted to extend partially through the shoe sole comprising a rigid sheet metal calk having a body provided with a central aperture and at a substantial distance therefrom with prongs adapted to be embedded in the outer face of the sole and at or beyond the periphery of said body with an integral ground-engaging member extending substantially perpendicularly outwardly from said body presenting a narrow edge and relatively wide angularly disposed ground-engaging surfaces, and a screw extending through the central aperture in said body adapted to engage the socket in said anchoring member, whereby the groundengaging member of said calk may be positioned in any desired angular relation to the longitudinal axis of the shoe and when said screw is set up said prongs Will be embedded in the sole and the ground-engaging member xedly maintained in said desired relation to the longitudinal axis of the shoe.

o. A ground-gripping calk construction for soles of athletic shoes and the like having embedded therein a metallic anchoring member having a base provided with an integral internally threaded socket member adapted to extend partially through the shoe sole comprising a rigid sheet metal calk having a concave circular body of greater diameter than that of the base of said anchoring member and provided with a central aperture and with a circular periphery to engage the sole having peripheral prongs adjacent its periphery and adapted to be embedded in the outer face of the sole and at or beyond the periphery of said body with an integral ground-engaging member extending substantially perpendicularly outwardly from said body and presenting a narrow edge and relatively wide angularly disposed ground-engaging surfaces, and a screw extending through said central aperture in said body adapted to engage the socket in said anchoring member, whereby the groundengaging member of said calk may be positioned in any desired angular relation to the longitudinal axis of the shoe and when said screw is set up said prongs will be embedded in the sole and the ground-engaging member xedly maintained in said desired relation to the longitudinal axis of the shoe.

FRED C. PHILLIPS. 

